Town zone gets £80,000 for cultural programme
19 May 2021 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
Hexham’s High Streets Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) project has been boosted with a grant of £80,000 from Historic England for its local cultural programme.
The cultural programme element of HSHAZ is designed to create and deliver community-led cultural activities on the town’s high street over the next three years.
Hexham HSHAZ is one of more than 60 high streets across the country to receive a share of £6 million for their cultural programme, through grants to local arts organisations for cultural activities.
In Hexham the cultural programme is being developed and managed by Hexham Culture Network on behalf of Hexham High Street Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) and led by Queen’s Hall Arts.
The funding builds on the success of a series of pilot cultural projects that have run since last August across 43 High Street Heritage Action Zones.
In Hexham the pilot project is Animating Hexham, which will discover stories and evoke memories of the town’s high streets and buildings, and use these to inspire animations and conversations about Hexham’s heritage.
It will then project the animations across the main shopping streets in September, helping to define why Hexham’s heritage is important to the community and what value the town centre will have in the future.
Other aspects of the Hexham HSHAZ cultural programme will include a range of work with artists, community-led events and activities which everyone can get involved in. It will signal a new dawn for Hexham’s high street with a series of festivals including the Festival of Flame, Hexham Pride and Animating Hexham, as well as other one-off events.
Katy Taylor, Artistic Director/Chief Executive of Queen’s Hall Arts and Chair of the Hexham Culture Network said: “We hope that the cultural programme will inspire people to share their memories, get creative and feel a sense of ownership of Hexham’s rich heritage, as well as thinking about the future of our historic town.
“By working in partnership to deliver an innovative and accessible programme we hope to connect people of all ages through animation and storytelling to create a lasting legacy for our community.”
Hexham HSHAZ is an ambitious scheme seeking to deliver £2.4 million of improvements to boost the town centre and enhance the Conservation Area. It is a is a partnership between Historic England, Northumberland County Council, Hexham Town Council and the Hexham Community Partnership, working with the local community.
Speaking on behalf of Hexham HSHAZ, Janice Rose, Head of Economy and Regeneration at Northumberland County Council, said: “Through the HSHAZ we want to revitalise Hexham’ s historic town centre, making it a more attractive, engaging and vibrant place for people to live, work, invest in and visit. The cultural programme is an extremely important part of this, and this grant is great news.”
The £80,000 grant for Hexham is part of the four-year-long High Streets Heritage Action Zones’ Cultural Programme, led by Historic England, in partnership with Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Cultural Programme aims to make high streets more attractive, engaging and vibrant places for people to live, work and spend time.
Local county councillors Cath Homer and Trevor Cessford welcomed news of the grant funding saying: “This is a fantastic opportunity for local people to get involved with the cultural programme and a series of events which will celebrate the rich heritage and history of the town. The residents we meet are rightly proud of our beautiful town and sharing fond memories is just the start of ways to get involved. Well done to Katy and the team on a successful funding bid.”
Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive, Historic England, said: “The high street cultural programme is a step change in the way we think about bringing high streets back from the brink. As we start to see these important historic spaces become regenerated through building work, it is the community-led cultural work that helps people to enjoy their high street again and also have a say in what the future of their high street might be.”
Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage MP said: "High streets are often the heart of our communities and should be places we all want to engage with and enjoy. These grants will help transform high streets into thriving cultural hubs, encouraging us to embrace all the joys our town centres have to offer."